An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery.
Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family-s past and about her own future. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Susan-s family escaped to California in the 1980s after five failed attempts. Upon arrival, Susan-s mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons and orchestrating every success-until Susan was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck. After the funeral, no one was ever allowed to talk about her or what had happened.
For the next twenty years, Susan navigated a series of cascading questions alone-why did the most perfect person in her life want to change her body? Why would no one tell her about her mother-s life in Vietnam? And how did this surgeon, who preyed on Vietnamese immigrants, go on operating after her m
